Blank for shoe uppers



May 24 1949 E. cAssANo A 2,471,366

LANK FOR SHOE UPPERS Filed Sept. 23, 1946 l Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 0 a i@ Q l Y N o y I\ l0 o M z N l m l l 1 '\1\ \Q A Si: 3o R S Y o l l N o n n ,I X

l h ,n l N Q No @n l oo N B N Lj l . QQ o Q 13 o N GN 5 o k (b o N N 57772272 zo asa/n o l 3M l MM am? May 24, 1949. E. CASSANO 2,471,366

BLANK FOR SHOE UPPERS Filed Sept. 23, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 gmc/who@ rmz'zz'o. basano Patented May 24, 1949 UNITED STATEZS iirt'yilENT QFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to shoes.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved blank for the upper of a low shoe of the blucher type, which will eliminate the rear seam and provide a more snug fitting at the heel of the shoe.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved blank which will eliminate waste in cutting of the blank.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved blank which will fit smoothly on the heel of the last and will eliminate the lumps which normally occur at this point. Y

A further object of this invention is to provide a blank which is formed with a notch at the toe end thereof serving as a centering guide during the lasting of the shoe.

A further object of this invention is to provide a blank in which one o-f the quarters is slightly higher than the other quarters so that when the blank is lasted the necessary fullness and shape will be provided at the heel, and the upper part Y of the heel will be contracted in order to snugly fit the heel of the foot.

A further object of this invention is to provide a blank wherein the rear of the box ,is positioned forwardly of the forward edges of the quarters so as to thereby prevent the usual binding of these points, the tongue of the shoe being secured to the rear of the box and forming an extending part l thereof.

A further object of this invention is to provide a blank of this type which can be easily adapted to other types of shoes, such as mocassins, strap, pumps, or the like.

With the above and other objects in View, my invention consists in the arrangement, combination and details of construction disclosed in the drawings and specification, and then more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a plan View showing a pair of blank uppers arranged for cutting from a piece of leather,

Figure 2 is a detail side elevation of a shoe, constructed according to an embodiment of my invention,

Figure 3 is a rear elevation of the shoe,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary bottom plan of the heel portion of the shoe showing the manner of securing the base of the upper to the last,

Figure 5 is a plan view of the tongue blank,

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional View taken substantially on the line 6 6 of Figure 2,

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 'l-'l of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings and first to Figure 1, the numeral I0 designates generally a blank upper which has been cut from a piece of leather. The upper l0 is formed of an elongated body Il forming the quarter of the upper which has an outer edge l2 disposed on a long curve or radius and terminating at the forward end thereof in a relatively short curve I3 of a substantially parabolic conguration. The outer edge i2 also has projecting therefrom a plurality of V-notches forming triangular tongues if! which are disposed at the base portion of the heel and are adapted to engage over the last, as shown in Figure 4, so that when the base l5 of the upper is bent over the last there will not be any bumps or wrinkles in the leather.

The upper i@ also includes a substantially hookshaped member or tapered side extension I6 extending rearwardly from the vamp and toe on the opposite side 0f the body l I at the front having a convexly curved edge El complementary with the curved edge I3 and substantially continuous with the curvilinear edge of the toe of the body except that the short radius curve l'l terminates at the forward end of the upper at its juncture with curved edge i3 in a notch as indicated at i8. The notch i8 forms a guide for positioning the upper on the last so that the tee portions or box ES of the upper formed by the front end portion of the blank will be properly centered with respect to the last. The upper I also includes a pair of inwardly extending divergent lacing flaps, portions or quarter members 2li and 2l disposed at opposite outward angles toward the ends of the blank at the front and rear of the body il of the blank to form the sides of the front opening or throat of the shoe with straight inner edges extending in opposite directions or angles on lines intersecting near the center line of the quarter section, said members 2i) and 2| being disposed in spaced relation, the quarter member 20 being disposed at the forward portion of the blank i0 tapered slightly and eX- tending inwardly and forwardly from the forward portion of the body Il at the inside toward but spaced from the forward portion of extension I5 at the inside thereof in rear of the vampfrom which it is severed and separated at the front and one side by a narrow arcuate transverse short radius slot extending on opposite sides of the median line of the vamp portion of the blank, and spaced rearwardly a slight distance from the concave rear edge 22 of the vamp portion of the upper, and having its front edge following generally the contour of edge 22 at the front of the slot. Lacing portion 2l constitutes the rear end portion of the blank whereas lacing portion 20 is disposed in rear of the vamp and toe portion i9.

The upper l@ at the inner or top edge of the body Il of the blank intermediately thereof between the two quarter members or lacing portions 20 and 2l, has a slightly humped or convex edge portion Z3 extending on each side of the center of the heel merging at its outer ends into a pair of concave edge portions 24 and 25 in a general concavity which forms the top opening of the shoe and permits extensions i6 to be cut therefrom in inter-fitting relation to save considerable leather or other material in producing the blanks. The convex portion 23. constitutes the upper portion of the. quarter at the heel of the shoe to extend on each side of the centei` thereof when the upper is in applied position on the last.

As will be noted in Figure 1, the rear quarter member 2| is disposed to project a substantial distance above or inwardly of the center or median line of the vamp and toe portion of the shoe designated 26. By disposing the quarter niember 2| at a greater distance beyond or inwardly of the quarter member or lacing nap 2G, when the blank is flat, as seen in Figure 1, or further above the median line 26 of the toe portion than thequartermember 2U when the blank is applied to the last, the edges 29 and will be out of registry, with the edge 29 above the edge 3D and lacing portion 2| too high, and to bring the upper edges of the lacing portions 2t and 2l into reg istry at the front opening or throat, and to bring edge 29 into alignment with the overlap margin El of\edge' 3E) for stitching, the quarter member 2l i's'moved downwardly so that the outer or lower rear edge portion 2l' of the upper it corresponding to edge portion I2 will be in alignment with the outer or lower rear edge portion 23 of the hook-shaped member or side extension It which is disposed in' the region of the instep oi the shoe;

At this time the edge portions 2o and Ell-3l are stitched together. This will cause the rearward portion of theA shoe, especially at the heel, to asn sume the shape shown in Figures 2 and 3 due to the fact that the portions of the blank adjacent the edge 23 are pulled together more than the correspondingl or complementary portions along the bottom portions and edges of the blank, thus givingfullness at the bottom portion of the upper about the heel and restricting the opening at the top of the upper so that the rearward portion of the-upper at the heel area will better nt the heel oithe'wearer by sloping on each side of the central"-convex edge portion 23, and without curving too-sharplyand cutting into the heel.

The lacing portion 2l has a convex upper rear edge portion from which breaks or angles the lower rear concave edge portion 29 which is adapted to overlap the convex inner edge @il of the tapered extension IG which extends inwardly and forwardly-from the blunted rear end of extension I6 at its'juncture with edge 2B. The convexupper rea-r edge portion of the quarter member or lacing portion 2l corresponds to the front edge oi the'ouarter mem'beror lacing portion 2i? spaced in `rear of edge 22 to form the blucher as seen in Figure 2.' Edge 3D of extension i5 has its forward end angled outwardly to the adjacent end of the concave edge 22' so that line 3l merges with edge 22on a reverse or ogee curve to give proper fullness at the toe and side without stretching, and relieve the strainon the stitching at this point. The dotted line 3l shows the overlapping distance ofthe. edge 29V with respect to the instep or hook member i6, said overlap being constituted by a marginal portion of uniform width along and between the inner edge 3S of said hook member or side extension i6 and line 3i. The tongue 32. extends under and between the loose quarters or lacing portions of the bluchers at the iront opening and is formed witha convex forward edge 33 which iszstitched to the rear portion .of the vamp along the concavededge 22,and atv the ends of the edge-.33' the tongue 32 is formed with vopposite-- ly disposed tapered arcuate side extensions or points Sii which are adapted to underlie the forward portions of the quarter members or lacing portions 20 and 2i, and to be stitched to the quarters and the rear portion of the vamp at the edge 22 where the tongue 32 is exposed between the edge 22 and the front portions of the lacing flaps.

With a shoe as hereinbefore described, the provision of disposing the concaved rear edge 22 of the vamp forward of the quarters provides a means whereby the shoe can be more readily applied to the foot and whereby the usual binding which occurs at the rear or the vamp will be eliminated. In this manner the shoe will more correctly iit the foot and by providing the blank for the upper with one quarter oiset upwardly from the other quarter, the quarter portion at the sides and rear or heel portion of the shoe -will more snugly fit the heel of the foot while giving neces-l sary fullness at the instep, vamp and -toe portion lil and at the edge 22. Furthermore, inasmuch vasthis blank upper is formed of one piece there Iwill not be any seam at the quarter portion of the upper at the heel.

I do not mean to conne myself to the exact details of construction herein disclosed, but claim all variations falling within the purview kof Vthe appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A shoe upper blank comprising an elongated sheet having a longitudinal edge disposed on a long convex curve for the major portion of' the length thereof and terminating at the forward end thereof in a sharp curve, a rearwardly-extending member on the forward end of said sheet having an outer convex curve complementary to said rst mentioned sharp curve, a pair of lonsgitudinally spaced inwardly extending lacing por'- tions on said sheet, one of said lacing portions being disposed immediately adjacent said forward end, the edge of said she-et between said-lacing portions having an intermediate convex curva-Y ture and merging concave outer curvatures, and said sheet having a concave cut out at the inner e5 portion of the vamp adjacent the` forward'lacing portion and extending across the median line of the vamp portion a substantial distance at Veach side thereof whereby the inner edge of the vamp will be disposed a substantial distance forwardly of said quarters in the complete shoe.

2. A blank for a one piece upper of a low shoe of the blucher type comprising abody having a longitudinal outer edge disposed on a long convex curve for the major portion of the length'thereof and terminating at the forward end thereof in a sharp curve, a rearwardly extending Ymemberon the forward end of said body having an outer convex curve complementary to said iirst mentioned sharp curve, said body alsohaving a pairof front and rear lacing naps extending inwardly from the front and rear end portions of its inner edge,..one of said lacing apsbeing disposed immediatelyadjacent said forward end the inner edge between said aps merging with the latter and said body having a concave cutout at. the. inner portiorrof 5 gitudinal outer edge disposed on a long convex curve for the major portion of the length thereof and terminating at the forward end thereof in a sharp curve, a second edge of said body having a reverse convex curve complementary to said sharp curve and forming toe and vamp portions with said body, said blank also having a pair of front and rear lacing aps extending inwardly from the front and rear end portions of a third edge constituting the inner edge of the body in rear of the vamp, the rear lacing ap extending inwardly a greater distance beyond the median line of the toe and vamp portions than the front lacing flap and divergent from each other with extensions of their lacing edges disposed along opposite intersecting outwardly divergent lines and an inner edge portion therebetween having a convex curvature and merging concave curvatures at its ends at the inner edges of the lacing naps, a tapered side extension extending rearwardly from the vamp on the opposite side of the body at the front having a convex outer edge and an inner convex edge extending inwardly and forwardly from the rear end of the extension and spaced from the front lacing flap, the body at the inner portion of the vamp havin-g a concave slot extending transversely across the median line of the toe portion a substantial distance on each side thereof to form the front edge of the front lacing flap on a reverse curve to and merging with the inner edge of the rearward extension whereby the inner edge of the vamp at the slot will be disposed a substantial distance forwardly of the lacing flaps when the upper is lasted.

ERMINIO CASSANO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

